Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who recently returned back to earth thanks to Elon Musk’s SpaceX after spending nine months at the International Space Station (ISS), have revealed that the Boeing Starliner spacecraft faced far more severe issues during its June 2024 mission than initially reported, according to the New York Post. The capsule experienced multiple thruster failures, leaving the crew unable to control its movement during docking with the International Space Station. Wilmore recounted that four thrusters malfunctioned. Despite standard flight protocols requiring an abort in such situations, NASA waived these rules, allowing the docking attempt to proceed.
The seasoned astronauts were left “floating in the vast void of space until NASA’s mission control came to their rescue,” The Post reports per Wilmore’s explanation of what had happened aboard the spacecraft in the harrowing moment. Wilmore reflected on thinking at the time, “I don’t know what control I have. What if I lose another thruster? What if we lose comm? What am I going to do?”
Wilmore revealed that he had raised concerns about the Boeing Starliner’s thrusters months before its June 2024 mission, following similar malfunctions during an uncrewed flight test to the International Space Station, according to The Post.
Eventually, remote override restored two of the failed thrusters and Williams and Wilmore were able to docking safely at the ISS. Despite docking safely, Wilmore said he knew that their chances of returning home in the spacecraft were slim.
Williams shared that she did a little “happy dance” with the successful docking explaining her reasoning as “One, of course, just because I love being in space and am happy to be on the space station and with great friends up there. Two, just really happy that Starliner docked to the space station.”
“My feeling at that point in time was like, ‘Oh, phew, let’s just take a breather and try to understand what happened,’” WillIams added.
The mission, originally planned for a week, stretched into nine months as engineers struggled to address system failures. NASA ultimately deemed Starliner unsafe for crewed reentry, opting to return the astronauts via SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule. Wilmore and Williams expressed their willingness to fly aboard Starliner again, however, emphasizing their commitment to resolving its issues and ensuring future success.
This incident has intensified scrutiny of Boeing’s Starliner program, which has faced delays and technical failures since its inception. NASA and Boeing are now working on resolving these problems, with hopes to attempt another crewed mission.